Newspaper Article 2015 – Life of tennis coach celebrated

Life of tennis coach celebrated

By Doug Laing
[email protected]

Representatives from a wide array of sports were at the funeral of long-time tennis coach Earle Denford, who died last week, aged 90.

Born in Napier and living in Hawke’s Bay all his life apart from his time in teacher training, Mr Denford was best known as a tennis coach. But he had the unique achievement of having been a Hawke’s Bay champion in tennis, table tennis and badminton, all at the same time.

He also played golf, down to a single-figure handicap at his best.

The real passion, however, was tennis, perhaps even more so the teaching of it, which he did for more than 50 years – as Hawke’s Bay’s first professional tennis coach, and in 1968 a founder of the New Zealand Professional Tennis Coaches Association.

He received a commemorative Salver from the association in 1988 to mark his work in establishing the organisation in its first 20 years – he was a life member and patron of the Hawke’s Bay Lawn Tennis Association, and in 2013 received a Napier City Council Civic Award, for services which included establishing tennis facilities in Napier, some unique ones as it turned out.

He was a prime mover in the establishment of the Onekawa tennis courts and the tennis club, which became the largest tennis club in New Zealand, with more than 400 child members.

He later ran two New Zealand hard court championships there, but it was not the only court he helped build. During seven years teaching at Putorino, he convinced the tiny Northern Hawke’s Bay community to put in a tennis court, and when he and wife Kathleen (nee Whittaker) built a new home at Greenmeadows it had to include a tennis court — as well as a swimming pool in the shape of a tennis racquet.

He was the eldest of three children of Walter George Denford and Mary Celia Denford (nee Baker), and survived both sisters – the youngest, Valerie, having died just a month before his own passing.

He was in Marton at the time of the 1931 earthquake and started school there, returning to Napier to go to Hastings St School, Napier Intermediate and Napier Boys High School.

Son Paul was not aware of a tennis heritage in the family – George Denford, a Londoner, was into harriers and track and field – but Earle Denford had taken to tennis before he started at the high school, where he was senior tennis champion in 1943.

His versatility was shown when just three years later he was named in the New Zealand Table Tennis Association Shield Team, and it was in 1950, having been to Teachers Training College in Wellington, where he met his future wife, that he was the No 1 ranked Hawke’s Bay player in tennis, table tennis and badminton.

Having started teaching in Napier, it was about 1952 that the couple moved to Putorino, where he was sole-charge teacher for seven years – during which the roll grew to such an extent that Kathleen, who had not trained as a teacher, started taking a class of juniors in the community hall.

She later undertook teacher training and after the couple moved back to Napier, buying a home in Seapoint Rd, they taught in Taradale.

He retired from teaching to go into real estate – as well as professional tennis coaching, in which he started the Earle Denford Junior Tennis Tournament.

He also started the tennis careers of hundreds of youngsters in Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne. Earle Denford tennis trophies feature on the annual prize lists of several schools.

Chris Denby, of Napier, was one of those to benefit, recalling playing in the HB Hardcourt Championships, a major national tournament, at Onekawa held on Labour weekend.

Mr Denford promised to find him a good doubles partner, and produced the then rising New Zealand star and eventual Wimbledon singles finalist Chris Lewis.

“This was typical of Earle the way he gave opportunities to local players to advance,” said Mr Denby. “I put down ‘partner required’ and got a Wimbledon finalist! Can anyone beat that?”

Among the many special moments for Mr Denford were the 1950 match he organised in Napier involving US Open winner Pancho Gonzales, a 1963 exhibition tour match between Ken Rosewall and Rod Laver in Napier’s Centennial Hall, and a later visit by American great Arthur Ashe, hosted by Earle and Kathleen Denford in Seapoint Rd.

But a particular highlight for the couple was a trip to Wimbledon in 1991, when the singles titles were won by Michael Stich and Steffi Graf. At the time he was president of New Zealand Tennis, formerly the New Zealand Lawn Tennis Association.

His knowledge of the game was passed on to the wider masses in 28 years of writing weekly tennis columns for Hawke’s Bay newspapers.

He had continued playing tennis up to recent times, including the 2007 and 2011 national veterans tournaments in Napier, and with a regular group on his court at home.

He died at home, survived by wife of 67 years Kathleen, daughter Brenda and son Paul, four grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. His funeral was held on Monday at Beth Shan Chapel, Napier, followed by interment at Western Hills Cemetery,

Photo captions –

Earle Wallace Denford
June 29, 1925-August 27, 2015

VETERAN: Earle Denford was playing late in his life, such as at the nationals veterans tennis tournament in Napier in 2011 at 86.
PHOTO/FILE